Rachel Medley riding Hope the Wonderhorse. Photo via Facebook.
When Hope the Wonderhorse was rescued from severe neglect almost one year ago, it was uncertain whether she would survive. The prospect of her one day becoming a riding horse was not even considered for a long time during the rehabilitation process. Time and again, she has defied the odds and exceeded everyone’s expectations, and this week, Hope was ridden for the first time by Rachel Medley, her owner and primary caretaker since her rescue.
“Ten months and nine days after Hope was rescued, she enters the world of productive society!” Rachel said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “I started tacking her up about six weeks ago. Ever so slowly, I started working her lunging her under tack. She met each new task with her characteristic vigor.”
After many weeks of ground work and careful saddle fitting to ensure a healed wound on her withers would not be irritated, Hope started work on the lunge line, learning voice commands and developing a work ethic.
Hope’s workout today! She is really getting this walk/trot thing down!! Her attention span is getting longer as well…today she worked for 20 minutes and was still patient and ready to keep going! I stopped right after this video…she was being SO GOOD!
Posted by Hope the Wonderhorse on Wednesday, September 23, 2015
“With regular vet checks along the way, I started laying over her back to see if my weight caused her any discomfort. Since she showed no signs of pain or irritation, we determined she was ready to be ridden,” Rachel said.
The first ride went just about as well as one could imagine. With the help of photographer and Hope Wonder-fan Allie Conrad, the trio took a ten minute walkabout and ended the first ride on a high note.
“She took it like a champ and seemed to understand that, like everything else in the past ten months, nothing will hurt her and no harm will come to her as long as the people who love her are near her.”
Here’s a little clip from Hope’s workout yesterday. She did very well, even stopping and turning on cues from me; Allie had the lead rope for safety but I don’t think she’ll need it much longer. We will build her fitness up gradually and she will have regular checks from Dr. Kivett to make sure she can handle what we introduce to her. Hope will have today off from riding, and we will have another short ride Thursday!
Posted by Hope the Wonderhorse on Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Ever since the prospects of Hope one day being ridden began to twinkle on the horizon, Rachel said that she would always make sure the filly was comfortable in work and would let her do any job she wanted to do. Now that she’s under saddle, Rachel is excited to try different disciplines with her and discover what she enjoys.
It makes our hearts sing to see this little filly thriving. We look forward to watching Hope and Rachel’s partnership continue to grow and maybe, just maybe, see them at a horse trials one day. You can follow Hope’s journey, too, by following her page on Facebook.
Rachel Medley, Hope, and Allie Conrad. Photo via Facebook.
